Today, on August 6, 2013, police officers committed unlawful acts having the following components of criminal offense against Aleksey Kvitkovskyi, the social worker of the VOLNA Charitable Foundation in the Lugansk oblast:
– “Excess of power or official authority by a law enforcement officer” (Article 365 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
– “Deliberate destruction or damage to property” (Article 194 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
– “Intentional moderate bodily injury” (Article 122 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
This, in turn, caused the violation of the following constitutional rights of Aleksey Kvitkovskyi:
– to respect for human health, person’s honor, dignity, inviolability and security (Article 3 of the Constitution of Ukraine);
– the right to own, use and dispose of property (Article 41 of the Constitution of Ukraine);
– the right to freedom of thought and speech, to free expression of views and opinions (Article 34 of the Constitution of Ukraine).
Thus, in Lisichansk, Lugansk oblast, near the place where the OST program is being implemented, police officers used violence and illegal actions against Aleksey Kvitkovskyi, which caused the damage to his personal property and the infliction of intentional bodily injuries (presumably of moderate severity), as his finger was fractured.
We officially declare the position of the ECUO on the inadmissibility of such behavior of law enforcement officers.
We also call on the prosecutor’s office, the Commissioner of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine for Human Rights, the Public Health Center and NGOs implementing HIV/TB/drug use programs, to provide legal assessment of the actions of police officers.
We demand that the appropriate bodies of the Ombudsman Office and the prosecutor’s office take this situation under personal control and punish the perpetrators in accordance with the law.
It should be noted that police officers are not allowed to be on the territory of medical institutions.
Moreover, we believe that this clearly shows the highly disrespectful attitude of the law enforcement system not only to patients of programs, but also to human rights in general!
“Observing such a flagrant violation of human rights in Ukraine is really frustrating”, said Vladimir Zhovtyak, Co-Chairman of ECUO. – Moreover, if illegal actions are committed by representatives of law enforcement agencies against the social worker, the regional representative of VOLNA foundation, while he was performing his work. The extraordinary meeting of the National HIV and TB Council for in-depth review of the situation is well worth to be held”.